SUNDAY 8 AM UPDATE: This over-hyped movie ended up being more trick than treat. Sources tell me the domestic numbers for Michael Jackson’s This Is It underperformed even more than Sony expected. And that the concert rehearsal footage pic took in just $20.7M this weekend and only $31.9M for the first five days it opened. Broken down per day, that’s $7.4M Wednesday, $3.7M Thursday, $7.8M Friday, $7.2M Saturday, and an estimated $5.8M for Sunday. But Sony’s official… Read

The Obama administration did a Friday afternoon news dump of the names of 500 visitors to the White House spanning the time period from January 20 to July 31, 2009. And almost no one from Hollywood showed up to meet the president or his family or his aides. Weird, especially since so much of Hollywood was supporting the Obama campaign. But the list is not comprehensive, just a response to specific disclosure requests. So who stopped by? George Clooney who once visited… Read

October 29th, Variety: No Oscars For Jackman: “While speculation is running high on who'll host the Oscarcast, it won't be Hugh Jackman. Jackman, who's currently starring on Broadway with Daniel Craig in the drama "A Steady Rain," quietly turned down the job within the past several weeks, sources said.”
October 16th, Deadline Hollywood: Oscar Can’t Always Gets What He Wants: “I’m told that AMPAS is about to check on the availability of Hugh Jackman to host for the 2nd… Read

3RD UPDATE: Here’s Miramax Films president Daniel Battsek’s email to staff:
Dear All-
After further reflection and discussion about the change in direction for Miramax, Rich Ross and I have agreed that I will step down as President of Miramax, effective the end of January, 2010. With this decision, we have also agreed that the best chance of success for Miramax is for the company to be located in Los Angeles, and I will work with the group on a transition plan. I’m very… Read

Hollywood already knows what a powerful marketing tool Twitter has become. But now Twitter subscribers are using that power to promote film piracy. Someone is promoting a web page that offers a full-length digital video of Paranormal Activity. Does Paramount Pictures know about this? UPDATE: The studio tells me, “It’s such a popular title with online folks. We are finding and removing a number of these.”
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…”DB” who submitted:A: "I hope this Douchebag can make me richer."
S: "I hope this Douchebag can make me richer."
WEDNESDAY PM UPDATE: I’m being picky about which captions I let through.
WEDNESDAY: Rose Palmisano of the Orange County Register took this photo of Ari Emanuel and Sacha Baron Cohen “enjoying” the Lakers game at Staples Center last night. It’s time once again for a Deadline Hollywood Photo Caption Contest, commenters: What are these two major players really… Read

UPDATE: Mike Sitrick just confirmed to me that he has sold his “Crisis PR” company. Well, this is a surprise! According to the PRNewswire, Resources Global Professionals, a consultancy spinoff from Deloitte & Touche and a multinational operating subsidiary of Resources Connection Inc (RECN), will hold a conference call tomorrow “to discuss the creation of a new Corporate Advisory and Restructuring business through the acquisition of Sitrick And Company and Brincko… Read

Fox Releases New ‘Avatar’ Trailer
Clearly Fox is going all out for the male audience for Jim Cameron’s game-changing 3-D oeuvre Avatar opening December 18th. The studio announced today it’s arranging the biggest live trailer viewing on one of the biggest sports days of the year (with key NFL match-ups + Game 4 of the World… Read

THURSDAY NOON: Hollywood is predicting that Sony’s This Is It will have trouble making its expected $50 million in 5 days domestically based on Wednesday’s $7.4 million opening including $2.2M from Tuesday night. Today will probably come in at the $4M range. And estimates now are for $20+M for Fri/Sat/Sun. So that comes out to a 5-day number in the low $30sM. “And with Halloween killing Saturday, Sony’d better have a hell of a Sunday to make it much past $20M for the… Read

Six writers won the 24th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Each writer or writing team will receive the first installment of a $30,000 prize at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills on November 12. This year’s winners are (listed alphabetically by author): Matt Ackley of Los Angeles for Victoria Falls; Vineet Dewan and Angus Fletcher of Los Angeles for Sand Dogs; John Griffin of Los Angeles for Dr…Read

EXCLUSIVE: This is how Epix is launching as it bills itself as the “next generation” premium entertainment service from Viacom, Paramount Pictures, Lionsgate, MGM/UA, Samuel Goldwyn Films, and Roadside Attractions. For the more than one million people invited to experience the free weekend previews starting today, it’s available on a first come, first serve basis through Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve learned that EPIX is reaching out to U.S. consumers about the free weekend… Read